Thursday, September 30, 2010

Student kills himself after gay sex footage put online

A New Jersey college student has leapt to his death a day after authorities said two students secretly filmed him having sex with a man and broadcast it over the internet.

Tyler Clementi's wallet was found on the George Washington Bridge on 22 September after two witnesses saw someone jump from the structure, authorities told the AP news agency.

Mr Clementi's body has not been found.

Two students have been charged with illegally filming the 18-year-old.

"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words," Paul Mainardi, a lawyer for Mr Clementi's family, said in a statement confirming the suicide.Room-mate chargedContinue reading the main storyAnalysisIain Mackenzie BBC News, Washington

The tragic death of Tyler Clementi brings together two contentious issues - gay rights and cyber bullying.

Technology certainly seems to have been played a role in driving the teenager to kill himself. However, equality campaigners say the real problem is a culture where young homosexuals feel persecuted and marginalised.

A recent study of gay students suggests one in four is regularly harassed because of their sexual orientation.

For some, Tyler Clementi's suicide has put a human face to that statistic.

The footage was allegedly taken using a web camera in Mr Clementi's dorm room at Rutgers University and broadcast live over the internet.

The two charged with filming and broadcasting the images are Mr Clementi's room-mate, Dharun Ravi, and Molly Wei.